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26% kavalactones!?

_byron

Kava Enthusiast
Anyone try this kava?
It doesn't seem to have been sold online yet but its in some Utah stores. Anyway I can't wait to get ahold of some and try it. I have had there tongan and fijian both were pretty good, they were advertised at ~5% and ~8% respectfully. I don't think i have ever even had the opportunity to try something this strong.
 

JohnMichael

Kava Synchronized
I didn't see it either on their site. www.purekava.com The Pure Kava is selling for $35 for 8oz pkg. They microgrind all their kava...so that may affect how it works. Interesting to see how it turns out.
 

_byron

Kava Enthusiast
Not a chance! Maybe if they only handpicked the thin lateral roots of a very old plant, they might be very lucky to get 16%, but that would be quite rare and thus expensive. 26% is just not possible without maybe mixing in some extracts, and that would again, be quite expensive.
Yeah I figured it must be a extract added. Sounds to good to be true.
 

_byron

Kava Enthusiast
Ok I DM'd them on Instagram. Its $50 a half pound with 7 dollar shipping, and it is not an extract!! Idk I am skeptical but I have ordered some and will definitely make a review might even make it a video...
 

The Kap'n

The Groggy Kaptain (40g)
KavaForums Founder
I personally don't buy it but I understand the marketing position of offering something like this. The 26% is straight up a figment of their imagination.

They do have a kava vending machine, though so that makes up for something. In Salt Lake City, UT no less!
 

Groggy

Kava aficionado
Admin
I personally don't buy it but I understand the marketing position of offering something like this. The 26% is straight up a figment of their imagination.

They do have a kava vending machine, though so that makes up for something. In Salt Lake City, UT no less!
I can see this machine in lime green or w/e the Alu color is. Hey @Kavafied, How about it? :D
 

Zaphod

Kava Lover
Anyone try this kava?
It doesn't seem to have been sold online yet but its in some Utah stores. Anyway I can't wait to get ahold of some and try it. I have had there tongan and fijian both were pretty good, they were advertised at ~5% and ~8% respectfully. I don't think i have ever even had the opportunity to try something this strong.
Saw the same thing on FB. Myself and @Bula Kava House tried to gently tell her she had a bad "test" but since she continued to claim 26%. At some point since she won't listen to reason you have to assume she is just full of it and knows it. I was half tempted to buy it and have it tested myself. The only way it hits 26% is if it is mixed with an extract.
 

Alia

'Awa Grower/Collector
These posts prompted me to go back and take a look at- Vincent Lebot's- numerous kavalactone % lists from Allertonia- a Series of Occasional Papers .
Pages 279 and 280 list cultivar KL % from Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, Wallis, Cook Islands, Tahiti, Hawaii, Papua NG. The KL% between 17.30 up to 29.62* (21 cv. in total) consist mostly of what some call today-"Noble" . To really prove this in todays' world one would have to go back and determine method used to test which is detailed on pages 243 and 244. Lebot et. al. Economic Botany paper a few years later showed another Hawaiian cultivar at 20 %. *the 29.62 % is Iwi, which some classify as tudei.
PS- pages 255- 256 lists Vanuatu cultivars and has 24 clocking in between 17 and 24.11% .
While I am the last person to think KL% is very important, when looking at the entourage effect of traditional beverage, I point this out as a matter of interesting history.
 
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Groggy

Kava aficionado
Admin
These posts prompted me to go back and take a look at- Vincent Lebot's- numerous kavalactone % lists from Allertonia- a Series of Occasional Papers .
Pages 279 and 280 list cultivar KL % from Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, Wallis, Cook Islands, Tahiti, Hawaii, Papua NG. The KL% between 17.30 up to 29.62* (21 cv. in total) consist mostly of what some call today-"Noble" . To really prove this in todays' world one would have to go back and determine method used to test which is detailed on pages 243 and 244. Lebot et. al. Economic Botany paper a few years later showed another Hawaiian cultivar at 20 %. *the 29.62 % is Iwi, which some classify as tudei.

PS- pages 255- 256 lists Vanuatu cultivars and has 24 clocking in between 17 and 24.11% .
While I am the last person to think KL% is very important, when looking at the entourage effect of traditional beverage, I point this out as a matter of interesting history.
I very much doubt the product above would even register as tudei, I am pretty sure it is yet another Chinese extract, about as far as away from kava as it gets. The name alone is a red flag. I am inclined to move it to the watchdog forum so people do not waste their $ on these hype type of products.
 

SelfBiasResistor

Persist for Resistance!
I very much doubt the product above would even register as tudei, I am pretty sure it is yet another Chinese extract, about as far as away from kava as it gets. The name alone is a red flag. I am inclined to move it to the watchdog forum so people do not waste their $ on these hype type of products.
That's my thought. The name/marketing is a big red flag. Either extract enhanced or tested with miscalibrated equipment. If it were authentic tudei or isa I'd buy some to use here and there for those days where nothing seems to work for sleep. Only takes a bit...
 

verticity

I'm interested in things
These posts prompted me to go back and take a look at- Vincent Lebot's- numerous kavalactone % lists from Allertonia- a Series of Occasional Papers .
Pages 279 and 280 list cultivar KL % from Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, Wallis, Cook Islands, Tahiti, Hawaii, Papua NG. The KL% between 17.30 up to 29.62* (21 cv. in total) consist mostly of what some call today-"Noble" . To really prove this in todays' world one would have to go back and determine method used to test which is detailed on pages 243 and 244. Lebot et. al. Economic Botany paper a few years later showed another Hawaiian cultivar at 20 %. *the 29.62 % is Iwi, which some classify as tudei.
PS- pages 255- 256 lists Vanuatu cultivars and has 24 clocking in between 17 and 24.11% .
While I am the last person to think KL% is very important, when looking at the entourage effect of traditional beverage, I point this out as a matter of interesting history.
Yeah, I mean there are those extremely high numbers in the literature, so maybe it's theoretically possible, but...

Examining the pure kava web site there is some self-contradictory information. The kava may be OK, but those percentages are almost certainly exaggerated, and in 2 cases provably so according their own information. For example, they sell a sampler of all their kavas with this copy:

purekava1.jpg
https://www.purekava.com/product-page/2-pounds-of-our-best-kava-bundle

They say their Tongan Kava is 13%, and their "Premium Fijian" is 10-15%. And for those two they actually posted COAs:

Their COA for the Tongan says 4.557%, click to enlarge:
pure_kava_tongan.jpg
Source: https://www.purekava.com/product-page/kava-tonga

"Premium Fijian": Their own COA says 7.998%.
premium fijian pure kava.jpg
Source: https://www.purekava.com/product-page/premium-fijian-waka-kava

So, do I believe the 26%? Unless they produce a COA that says 26%, no, because it seems like their numbers are exaggerated and need to be divided by a factor of two or so to get the real numbers...maybe it really is 13%, which would still be pretty strong..

[EDIT: Unbeknownst to me when I wrote this, Pure Kava in fact did produce a COA verifying the 26% claim for Island Dope..see Zaphod's post below]
 
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Alia

'Awa Grower/Collector
Yeah, I mean there are those extremely high numbers in the literature, so maybe it's theoretically possible, but...

Examining the pure kava web site there is some self-contradictory information. The kava may be OK, but those percentages are almost certainly exaggerated, and in 2 cases provably so according their own information. For example, they sell a sampler of all their kavas with this copy:

View attachment 10022
https://www.purekava.com/product-page/2-pounds-of-our-best-kava-bundle

They say their Tongan Kava is 13%, and their "Premium Fijian" is 10-15%. And for those two they actually posted COAs:

Their COA for the Tongan says 4.557%, click to enlarge:
View attachment 10023
Source: https://www.purekava.com/product-page/kava-tonga

"Premium Fijian": Their own COA says 7.998%.
View attachment 10024
Source: https://www.purekava.com/product-page/premium-fijian-waka-kava

So, do I believe the 26%? Unless they produce a COA that says 26%, no, because it seems like their numbers are exaggerated and need to be divided by a factor of two or so to get the real numbers...maybe it really is 13%, which would still be pretty strong..
To be clear-- I did not mean to imply "Island Dope" was accurate in their claim for this product.
You point out the contradictions quite well.
Just that historic research like I quoted is interesting basis for discussion.
 

_byron

Kava Enthusiast
I do not want to start any argument here. I just discovered this kava and was wanting to share my finding. I do believe the kavalactones numbers may be bolstered, but do not think this means that this kava is a "red flag kava". I think new kava companies should stand a chance to get into the kava scene. Sometimes mistakes are made look at past events with other notorious vendors. I am not affiliated with pure kava in anyway but there tongan and fijian have been great kava's to me and will post on the island dope when it arrives tomorrow.
 

verticity

I'm interested in things
I do not want to start any argument here. I just discovered this kava and was wanting to share my finding. I do believe the kavalactones numbers may be bolstered, but do not think this means that this kava is a "red flag kava". I think new kava companies should stand a chance to get into the kava scene. Sometimes mistakes are made look at past events with other notorious vendors. I am not affiliated with pure kava in anyway but there tongan and fijian have been great kava's to me and will post on the island dope when it arrives tomorrow.
I agree with this. There is no evidence that their kava contains extract or that there is anything wrong with it other than a couple exaggerated claims about percentages. I regret if my post above appeared to be part of a piling on, and believe we should give new vendors a chance..
 

Zaphod

Kava Lover
I agree with this. There is no evidence that their kava contains extract or that there is anything wrong with it other than a couple exaggerated claims about percentages. I regret if my post above appeared to be part of a piling on, and believe we should give new vendors a chance..
I agree. They have a COA from what appears to be a valid lab [at least to a layperson the lab seems legit]. However, I think there are still plenty of questions. They also say they do nobility and chemotype testing but I don't see that listed. I would be real interested to see the chemotype or more specifically % of each KL that gets it to that overall high %.
 

The Kap'n

The Groggy Kaptain (40g)
KavaForums Founder
You could easily add kavalactones to a sample prior to submission, but I highly highly doubt that what's happened here. A new vendor taking that sort of shot would fall flat pretty quickly once everyone realized that the 26% was bunk. I have to agree with the overall opinion here and it's that we only have one bit of disputed information. Heck, the kava might be good. I started a new subforum of which this thread currently resides titled "Unknown Vendor / Product Discussion". It will be for the express purpose of discussions like this on vendors we aren't exactly familiar with.
 
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